Coach Rick here.

OK so let me date myself a bit. The year was 1992 and I had just finished a summer internship with a real estate company. I got a call from my father, a real estate broker, who was about to staff a model home for a local Parade of Homes event. He needed help. So I enthusiastically agreed thinking how great it would be to get some training on selling new homes.

I spent summers and one spring during college working on framing crews. I knew how homes were put together and there was no way my poor back would allow me to choose a career framing. This, I thought, may lead to something….who knew!!

I arrived at the model home Saturday morning a couple hours before the event started and my father gave me my training. It went something like this (but in not so many words)…

“See the model?,” asked my dad. “Yep.”

“See the keys to unlock the door?,” “Sure do,” I replied.

“Turn on all the lights and let me know when I’m going to see a purchase agreement!” 

There I was in my borrowed suit so wet behind the ears I was dripping green “lack of experience” sweat all over the floors. I watched the clock tick down until 12:00 noon and then learned my first very valuable lesson…. Fake it until you make it!

I soon figured out it was up to me to figure out this sales and marketing thing. Because I was so inexperienced I started looking to anybody I could learn from. And, wouldn’t you know it, I found some help.

Reason #1 Most Builders Fail- Never Acknowledging You Need Help

Let’s call this the 100 level stage. I acknowledged I needed some help and started attending free workshops on any real estate topic I could find. I’d jot down a few ideas and walk away thinking I just got a few more pieces to the puzzle. After a few years of doing this I realized I had collected 1,000 different pieces that didn’t fit together. Sure I’d gotten some tips but I didn’t know how to truly leverage them into something I could see serious results. Which led me to…

Reason #2 Most Builders Fail- Never Engaging an Expert

I attended my first International Builder Show (IBS) in 1999. I will still gathering 100 level information when I went to a Bob Schultz class. I left him my business card and later that year received an invitation to attend one of his boot camp courses. I liked his ideas and so I jumped in. Not only did I sign up for the course I bought all his books and those of other trainers like Myers Barnes, Tom Richie and others.

Wow what an eye opener! Now I had 200 level information. I could see a process for selling new homes. I knew what to do at every step. It was all coming together! Best money I could have invested at that point in my career. Later on, however, I knew I was still missing something… 

Reason #3 Most Builders Fail- Never Committing

Last month I presented a case study via webinar and at IBS with a client of mine, Morning Star Builders of Houston, TX. I’ve

been working with Ted and Yvonne Cummins since 2012 and saw first-hand what commitment to a system has done for them. Ted and Yvonne started the company in 2001 and when I started working with them in 2012, they were a small mom and pop custom builder with two employees doing about 4 million a year. Both Ted and Yvonne committed themselves to learning and executing not only from me, but from their Builder 10 group and personal business coach. Today the company has 8 employees and will sell over 10.8 million in 2015. They’ve grown 65% in the last two years and have a great handle on their business.

Committing to a system is what I call 300 level. It’s not only knowing all the puzzle pieces, it’s working diligently with someone who knows how to connect them. Very few builders ever get to this level (I’d say 10% or less). 

My 300 level came from Charlie Cook, a small business coach that taught me everything about internet marketing and sales. I used that knowledge to build my business and in turn use it with all my clients. Without committing to Charlie’s system, I’d still be trying to connect puzzle pieces that don’t fit together.

What About You?

Failure means two things to me…

• Trying to recreate the wheel instead of buying one that works (i.e. working stupid, not smart)
• Being satisfied with the status quo

Watch how Ted and Yvonne answer the question, “What’s changed in your lead generation, marketing and sales process?”

Ted and Yvonne are in the 300 level and not stopping there! They’re not only in the 10% they’re probably in the top 5% of all builders. It’s so gratifying for me to see success stories like theirs.  

If you’re reading this blog it means you’re at least acknowledging you need help and looking for 100 level information. Congratulations, that’s the first step! I’d like to introduce you to the 200 Level on Thursday February 26th. I’ve created a follow-up webinar and 23 page resource guide to our IBS presentation that documents exactly how Ted and Yvonne grew 32% last year alone. I’ll be walking you through the resource guide and providing greater depth from the IBS program.

Click here to register for the webinar, download the resource guide and watch a recording of the IBS presentation 

 

Talk soon!

~Rick